I Like How I Am With You
by Nightshade1999
Summary: During slow mornings on a hot summer day, I like the way you make feel. (Part 1 of the Demigod Stories series)


**AN: Hello, this is my first PJO oneshot and my first oneshot in general. I hope you enjoy it.**

I Like How I Am With You

 _During slow mornings on a hot summer day, I like the way you make me feel._

In those sleepy mornings of summer, when the sun stretches its pink caress through the large glass windows of the villa and kisses the occupants of the large king bed, those are the days Will decides to stay in. He relishes the quiet moments, the moments when the world refuses to start early and he can feel silk green sheets twisted around his tan ankles. He lives for the days he can press wet open mouth kisses on his lover's wild hair without extracting his body from the bed for prior arranged obligations because he lives for these days. The days when his body is cocooned in soft fabric and smooth skin, clutching his lover in a vice grip so his sweet dreams won't end too soon and Nico could get the sense to leave him for a better man. Those moments when hair petting and cuddling causes his boyfriend to sigh and push himself deeper into an intimate embrace and let warm arms lull him back to sleep. In those precious moments of innocence and warmth, Will can appreciate the sliver of slow time and love and living since it is his morning and he chooses how he wants to experience it. For now, he simply sits back and strokes his lover's dark hair, at ease with the downy softness and content to let his fingers get tangled in dark locks in a drowsy haze.

When he wakes again, in happiness and serenity, the sun is higher, baking the room with an insistence to get up and start the day. But Will gives it a glare and burrows deep into the scent of sweet pomegranate and spice, wishing his father would find another place to point his shine. There are days when he appreciates the wake up and others he wants to spend spooning and cuddling and kissing and studying Nico so he can play him like a fiddle and pull noisy laughs and squeaks from him. Those days are different from the hot and heavy ones spent searching for some kind of passion or the lethargic ones when they both return from work and are too tired to speak. No, he wants the innocent childlike ones where Nico blushes the soft pink of roses and Will gets tongue-tied, from seeing his boyfriend radiate smiles when he is woken up in the morning. Those days are rare as they come now, even as he is on the cusp of twenty-one and Nico is turning eighteen.

The heat is becoming slightly unbearable and he turns his head to the boy next to him. They had been dating for three years, almost four now, and Will still manages to become a tomato looking at him cuddled in his arms. He kisses his forehead and laughs as he can only discern so many interactions while his boyfriend is sleeping and Nico is rolling towards him, for more kisses or cuddling. Will rolls the blankets down and watches mournfully as the green sheets pool around his feet. Nico's hairless legs are bare and cool now, and the he is shifting angrily in his spot, his full pink lips in a pout. His somnolent lover whines and reaches for covers, his eyes blinking rapidly.

"Will," he whines. "Gimme back the covers. It's too cold." And Will laughs, loud and exuberant, tears springing from his eyes. Nico huffs and pulls the covers back up, intent on sleeping through the rest of the summer.

"It's not funny."

"It is." Will insists and Nico pouts more. Will stops his complaints with a soft press of lips, hesitant like a teenager, and thankfully Nico is in a good enough mood to reciprocate, his arms going around Will's neck and his legs wrapping around his waist. They tumble around, kissing a little and petting a little as the yellow light flooded the room. They laugh, young and in love, airily and ignorant of the outside world. Green sheets bundle around Nico's waist, who in turn stares smugly at Will for the reappearance of his treasured blankets. And Will, focused on the cheerful glint in Nico's eye and the expression of mirth on Nico's face, falls more and more in love.

"Gods, I love you." He sighs, pressing his forehead against Nico and giving him Eskimo kisses. Nico leans back and looks at him, surprised and stunned, but happy all the same.

"Well, good morning to you." He laughs. "What brought this on?" He pulls Will closer with two smaller pale hands, pressed against tan skin.

"I just don't know what I did to deserve you." He whispers, abashed at his doubts.

"If this is about those stupid insecurities of yours, then I'll say it again. I—"

"But I'm not a warrior. Unlike other demigods, I don't wield a sword or bow all that well. I can't go out and be the best fighter on the field. And you deserve someone who can watch your back like that. And there are times when this feels like a cruel dream, when I can have you, but I'll be expected to give you up because I'm not worthy enough." Nico kisses him once, twice, just to make him stop blabbering.

"You have my back always. Who patches me up when I am injured?"

"I do."

"Who helps me bake in the afternoons? Who helped me study for my finals? Or taught me how to play the guitar and sing along to crappy karaoke music?"

"Me," Will huffs and Nico smiles.

"Who is always there when I need him to be? You. That's why I do not need anyone else. You take care of me and I take care of you. You nurse me back to health, physically and emotionally. You love me. I don't need anyone else to be with but you. If you'll have me."

"Of course. I do not want anyone else but you."

"Then don't doubt yourself Will. I love you. You give me a reason to not be so reckless on the battlefield because you are the one thing I want to come back to. You make me better, and" he broke off before shyly murmuring "I like how I am with you."

And Will thought back to the happy smiles, the smirks, and the rough and sweet kisses that taste of ice cream and chocolate on warm summer nights. He thinks of the late night coffee dates and the all the times he took Nico dancing in the city. He recalls their first kiss in the infirmary and the cool skin on hot nights when the furnace was up too high. The silly arguments over who gets to do laundry and who can do the dishes. Will smiles. He relishes these sleepy, hazy days because they remind him of all the things that make him feel love. So he whispers back.

"I like how I am with you too."

 **AN:** To those who read ALES, it is not on hold. I just got back my privileges and felt like posting my other projects on fanfiction as well. I'm writing the chapter currently and it should be released after the first chapter of my upcoming dramas-We Little Tin Soldiers and the FF release of Good Boys Hold Flowers (which can be found on AO3).


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